Technical SEO · Advanced

Server-side rendering

Server-side rendering (SSR) means the server builds each page's full HTML before sending it, instead of leaving the browser to assemble it with JavaScript. Crawlers and AI bots see the complete content immediately.

By Thryv StudioUpdated

Level
Advanced
Also called
SSR
Alternatives
Static generation (SSG) or client-side rendering
Benefit
Content visible to every crawler, faster first view

What is server-side rendering?

With client-side rendering, the server sends a shell and JavaScript builds the page in the browser. With server-side rendering, the server runs that code and sends finished HTML. Static site generation goes further, building the HTML once at deploy time.

Why it matters

  • Every crawler, including AI crawlers that don't run JavaScript, sees the full content.
  • Pages usually show meaningful content sooner, which helps Largest Contentful Paint.
  • Titles, meta tags and structured data are present from the first response.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need SSR for every page?

Pages that should rank or be cited need their main content in the HTML, through SSR or static generation. Logged-in app screens don't.

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